Thursday, June 30, 2016

If you want to see beautiful auroras, go north. Jupiter’s north pole rocks the most powerful and luminous northern lights in the solar system.

In less than week, NASA’s Juno mission will arrive in Jupiter’s orbit to map the gas giant’s magnetic field, study its interaction with the solar wind, and determine the origin of the auroras.

“These auroras are very dramatic and among the most active I have ever seen”, the University of Leicester’s Jonathan Nichols said in a statement. “It almost seems as if Jupiter is throwing a firework party for the imminent arrival of Juno.”